We may have to have some sort of voting to determine the best use of the “distorted faces” tag….

Mr. Gibson played in eight seasons for the Tigers, Mets, and Yankees.  Wikipedia also lists him as a member of the Brewers, Blue Jays, and Pirates, but he did not play in a game for any of them.

When I posted the Matt Young card last month, I challenged anyone to show me a card more deserving of the “distorted faces” tag.  Well Vorpy has responded, and responded with great force, by sending me this Tim Leary card.  While Mr. Leary gets a small pass in my book due to his pose being mid-pitch, this is an awfully strong entry in the “distorted faces” camp.

Not to be confused with the psychedelic drug advocate, this Tim Leary played in the major leagues for 13 seasons.  He finished his career with almost 1500 innings pitched, an ERA+ of 90, a World Series ring, and the 1988 “Comeback Player of the Year” award.

While Mr. Young does not appear to be very nerdy, I am posting his card in order to raise the bar for the “distorted faces” tag.  I challenge anyone to show me a baseball card that can top Mr. Young in that category.  Also, it looks like he’s imitating the “Handy Man” character from In Living Color.

On April 12, 1992, Mr. Young threw an unofficial no hitter.  He allowed two runs on seven walks and an error, becoming the fourth pitcher to throw a no-hitter in a losing effort.  Since his team was on the road, he pitched a complete 8 inning game, which does not qualify as a “true no hitter.”

I like this card for two reasons:

1. It’s the first card to be featured on Nerd Baseball from the 1984 Donruss set, which is my all-time favorite modern baseball card set (I’m currently working on assembling a high grade ’84 Donruss set); and
2. The card is really nerdy.

Also, my apologies for the lapse in posting; expect new nerd cards twice weekly in the coming months. I hope everyone is enjoying the first week of the baseball season.

Apparently, Mr. Clary now works with the Global Youth Baseball Federation, a non-profit Christian baseball organization. In 2002, he and other former players traveled to Cuba to play baseball and “share the gospel.”

From the back of card: “Daryl is a fan of popular music. He owns an excellent impersonation of singer Stevie Wonder.”

How about that Sox uni? Yikes.

Apparently, Mr. Harris was a switch-pitcher! From Baseball Library:

Harris’ unusual ability to pitch with both hands led to some tension between him and the Red Sox, who forbade the ambidextrous hurler from throwing lefty. GM Lou Gorman insisted it would “make a mockery” of the game, leading Harris to grumble, “Boston is so conservative. People are afraid to try anything.” In a muted show of defiance, Harris usually chose to wear an ambidextrous glove on the mound.

But just before his retirement, while pitching for the Expos in 1995, the veteran hurler finally became the only twentieth-century pitcher to throw from both sides of the mound. After Harris (pitching righty) retired Reggie Sanders to start off the ninth inning of a game against the Cincinnati Reds on September 28, 1995, he turned around to face the left-handed Hal Morris.

Harris issued a free pass, thus becoming the first ambidextrous major-league pitcher since Elton “Ice Box” Chamberlain of the American Association in 1888. Nerve-wracked, he stayed a southpaw and induced a ground-out from Eddie Taubensee, closing out the inning by retiring Bret Boone as a righty. The last pitcher to use both hands in a pro game had been Bert Campaneris, who did so in 1962 while playing for Daytona Beach in the Florida State League.

Pretty awesome stuff. Hopefully we’ll see something similar from Yankees farmhand Pat Venditte in the not-too-distant future.

From Wikipedia: “Espinoza joins Ruppert Jones, Ricky Lee Nelson, Dave Kingman, José Canseco, and Kevin Millar as the only players in MLB history to hit a fair ball that got stuck in a stadium obstruction.” Pretty exclusive company.

Hey all, sorry for the missing nerd this past Monday. Unfortunately, technical difficulties with the official nerd-scanner have provided a roadblock to expanding the nerd archive. Thankfully, there is a seemingly never-ending supply of Kent Tekulve cards available for posting. You can see our first Kent Tekulve post here. There are many more Tekulve cards in the archive. We may have to develop some sort of lifetime achievement award.

Happy “pitchers and catchers reporting” everyone.

According to Wikipedia, Mr. Eichhorn seems to have had an amazing career.  In 1982, only 38 innings into his pro career, he suffered a major shoulder injury, which robbed him of his velocity.  He didn’t resurface in the majors until 1986, with an extreme sidearm delivery.  That year, he pitched 157 innings, AS A RELIEF PITCHER! His ERA was 1.72, his WHIP was .955, and he struck out 166 batters.  Had he pitched five more innings, he would have qualified for the AL ERA title.

In his 11 seasons in the pros, Mr. Eichhorn had three seasons in which his ERA+ was over 200, and five more seasons when it was over 123.

Oh, and for part of his career, he was the setup man for Tom Henke.